Richard Ashcroft continues to captivate live audiences following his acclaimed support slot on Oasis’ Live ’25 reunion tour. Summer 2026, following a sold-out UK arena headline tour led by Tour Manager Lewis Allman and Production Manager Will Matthews, he’ll play against the backdrop of some of the UK’s most historic outdoor venues, including medieval castles.
Celebrating songs that defined the 1990s and his ever-evolving songwriting skills, the shows blend new material from seventh studio album, Lovin’ You – which debuted at No. 1 on the UK’s Official Vinyl Albums Chart – with iconic anthems from his time with The Verve.
Audio reinforcement comes via Britannia Row. “This was my first tour using Brit Row,” said longtime FOH Mixer, Eds John. “I met [Account Executive] Dave Compton when Richard was supporting Oasis last year, and it’s been a very successful partnership. I’ve been massively impressed by the care that goes into the prep of the whole system and by the team assembled to support us both on the road and at the warehouse.”
“Richard’s voice has so much character, and it needs to be crystal clear, so I tend to sit his vocal right on top of the mix,” continued John. “This doesn’t mean the band are mixed quietly, far from it, but that vocal needs to pop out. Richard’s a huge fan of vocal FX, especially delay, so they’re constantly bubbling under until he’s ready… then the delays take your head off!”
Confirming delays are quite often at 100% on the repeats and mixed into floor monitors, he furthered: “Richard loves to be immersed in delays. I have a click track from playback world just to trigger delay times and then two macros to take the delay feedback from 40% to 100%. When the macro fires the 100% feedback, it turns the input to delay off to save unwanted spill.”
The Lucky Man singer has used a trusty Shure Beta 58a microphone for years: “It works well through FOH and more importantly, Matt (Lewis, Monitor Engineer) can get enormous amounts of clean level on stage as we don’t use any IEMs. I’ve been using Earthworks mics for the drums – once you’ve tried them, you won’t want to use anything else (other than a 1995 Shure SM91!),” he continued.
The string sections use a combination of DPA4099 and Schertler dynamic mics. For the indoor arena run, Britannia Row supplied a d&b audiotechnik PA rig with DiGiCo control surfaces, a combination these engineers see as non-negotiable package.
For control, John choice of the DiGiCo Quantum 338 and a Fourier Transform Engine in his rack keeps things simple. “These two items are all I’ve been touring for the last couple of years, along with a Pro Tools recording rig, which I bring with me,” he said “I like a minimal FOH set up for many reasons, including ease of duplication, as I tour the world. Fourier was a game changer for me; I have everything I need in one box and with the DiGiCo integration I really don’t need anything else.”
On the meter bridge there are two iPads; one running walk-in music and an RTA connected via a Universal Audio Volt interface: “It’s a brilliant piece of kit designed to work with IOS. The second is running the DiGiCo remote software,” added John.”Plugin wise. I’m using Waves Renaissance Compressors on all vocals with Waves F6 RTA EQ’s, there’s two vocal subgroups; one for Richard and one for BV’s which have a Waves C6 multi band. There’s also a Waves SSL Buss Compressor on the master which sits around minus 3db reduction.”
John also has Valhalla reverbs for vocals, strings and drums and Sonnox reverb for acoustic guitar, while everything else is on the console, including those all-important vocal delays and MSE on vocals and live strings.
Another must have for his finely tuned rider is a d&b rig: “In my opinion, no one is making better speakers, amplifiers and software. The DiGiCo, Fourier and d&b combo is what I use for all the artists I tour with. For the last five years, Craig Burns has been my system designer/engineer for all my tours. He is a big d&b fan, and I am incredibly lucky to have him give me a consistent sounding PA every day. PA design is a complex art and when you have to design around other touring elements you need someone who can deliver no matter what.”
“The idea for this tour was to ensure that the audience got the best possible experience no matter where they were sat, with minimal spill onto stage,” began Burns. “As long-standing d&b users, the choice was made quickly for the SL Series.”
Truly understanding the needs of the artist, FOH engineer and wider production gave Craig the opportunity to place the system in the best possible position for each arena venue. “The only difficulties we faced were acoustics and low trim height in arenas. With the PA being positioned correctly and the desired trim heights secured, we were able to achieve great results in room which didn’t initially sound great,” Burns added. “The SL Series is a huge help with its rearward cancellation and Array Processing ensuring the audio gets to just where it needs to go. Having the right amount of speaker hangs ensured we also didn’t have to compromise on coverage or positioning.”
The duo specified the Direct Out Prodigy.MP out front. “It’s pretty much my go-to processor these days. The flexibility and features ensure I don’t have to worry about being restricted in workflow. We also use Milan infrastructure with d&b D90 amplifiers which worked perfectly.”
Burns also handles Crew Chief responsibilities, and said: “Touring is tough when all the elements aren’t thought about, but every element here was. It’s the people who make a tour and the people on this tour were exceptional. I cannot praise the team around me enough for making my job so easy!”
The sentiment is also felt for their new audio supplier: “Every time I work with Britannia Row, I immediately feel at ease as I know everything has been taken care of before I even have to think about it. Our crew has been thought about by the crewing department, everyone in the new HQ is super friendly and helpful and the prep space is a lovely place to work in. Plus, the tech support when prepping really makes it easy to concentrate on my job,” Burns added. “The wider support both on the road and off is so good – it really makes a difference, so thank you to Eds John, Dave Compton, Carlene Anon (Crew Logistics), Bradley Hayden (Operations), the entire team at Brit Row HQ, and our touring audio team: Thomas Robson, Adrian Roche, Megan Clement and Louis Briggs.”
“I’ve always enjoyed working with Britannia Row, and the new warehouse is fantastic,” agreed Monitor Engineer Lewis, who had 21 mixes for the arena shows courtesy of additional musicians.
“This includes a five-piece string section, keys player and two backing vocalists,” he confirmed. “They all use IEMs primarily, whereas Richard and his core touring band rely solely on the stage sound, wedges and sidefills, and this is where the gig happens.”
“Brit Row’s techs are at the top of their game, and that’s the most important part for me – knowing I have knowledgeable and friendly support on the gig in those moments. It can be hard to keep on top of everything with 11 musicians onstage and my eyes fixed on Richard but knowing they are right there with you, ready to jump into battle, helps immeasurably. A gig is only ever as good as the team behind it,” he added.
Sidefills are particularly important for Lewis too: “They have always played a crucial role for me. They are positioned close to the performers and consist of a full compilation, close to a FOH mix. I like to walk the stage a lot during soundcheck and often find myself spending more time in front of Richard’s mic position if he hasn’t sound checked on that day. I like to understand exactly what he will be hearing during the show and from the moment he walks onstage, it has to be right.”
IEMs are handled with Shure Axient PSM system but since 2018, Lewis has used the same combination of DiGiCo and d&b, with a few adjustments. “Currently, I use a DiGiCo Quantum 338 along with Waves Superrack. I enjoy how flexible the setup is and how deep and full the preamps sound. Over the years I’ve used all formats of the console on this gig but have settled on the 338 mainly due the extra processing including Aux nodes and Mustard processing. I also really enjoy the three screen/bank layout – it just makes my life easier being able to setup my console with more information viewable at once,” he said.
Lewis has a variety of plugins for a little extra dynamic control such as the C6, F6 and SSL buss. Onstage is strictly d&b: “I have five M2 stage monitors that sit in front of Richard, whereas the rest of the band use M4’s. Sidefills consist of a single V-sub with 4x V8’s on top. “Over the years, this setup has become non-negotiable for me on this gig. Having a live string section through your sidefills alone brings its own challenge but I do everything to ensure the band will have a great gig,” Lewis concluded.
